While fans are still reeling from the October announcement that Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha is quitting the band over artistic differences, Rage releases a towering collection of cover tunes as their swan song.

In this 14-song collection, Rage covers Springsteen, the Stooges and Cypress Hill as well as Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones. Under the direction of wonder producer Rick Rubin, the band attempts to get at each song’s essence not through imitation, but interpretation.

On this record, the Rage boys prove to be innovative stylists.

Their thrash ‘n’ burn version of Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm” is outstanding, as Rage adjusts the tempo and arrangement to reflect the song’s angry-no-more roar.

They do the same for the Stones’ “Street Fighting Man,” again wresting possession of a well-known song from the originator and claiming it as their own.

But their cover of Detroit’s MC5’s “Kick Out Jams” doesn’t equal the original’s hard-core center. Still that’s a small complaint for a great rock album that at least for now is going to be the final studio opus from the broken down Machine.

NINE INCH NAILS

“Nineinchnails: Things Falling Apart”

Nothing Records

For five years there wasn’t an electronic, metallic, or even gothic peep out of Nine Inch Nails, making many believe the band was unofficially deceased. Then in 1999 all that changed. The band released the incredible double disc “The Fragile” with which Trent Reznor and company reclaimed and polished NIN’s reputation as one of the sharpest blades in cutting edge music.

A year, a successful world-wide tour and a pair of Grammy nominations later, Reznor – a studio rat at heart – has taken the time to produced “Nineinchnails: Things Falling Apart,” a re-mixed inside-out retooling of some of the excellent “Fragile” pieces.

The new record includes six of the original’s best, as well as a cover of Gary Numan’s “Metal” and Trent’s own “The Great Collapse” (a song written for “The Fragile” that didn’t make the final cut).

For most bands this would be unusual, but in fact it’s the third time Reznor has re-examined his work in re-mixed versions.

Unfortunately, on “Thing’s Falling Apart,” the re-mixes are less auspicious than either “Fixed” or “Further Down the Spiral” – his past re-mix efforts. The new disc is further sucked down the spiral by three separate versions of “Starf-kers, Inc.” none of which tops the original featuring Marilyn Manson.

The basic problem is this disc never comes close to bettering “The Fragile,” making Reznor seem rather like an artist who paints a mustache on the Mona Lisa because he doesn’t know when to lay the brush down.

STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN and DOUBLE TROUBLE

“SRV”

Legacy/Epic

Eyes clamped shut, his face contorted in the classic ugly face and his fingers flying in the high stratospheric range of his beat-up Fender Stratocaster is how you want to remember Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Texas guitar slinger, dead 10 years now.

The helicopter crash that took the man’s life didn’t stop his music, which has remained in catalog since and is now being celebrated on a terrific four-disc tribute “SRV.”

The set’s 54 tracks are gleaned from Vaughan’s performances and studio work with his band Double Trouble between ’77 and his final concert at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin August 25, 1990, the night of his death. While the studio work is interesting and a pleasure to listen to, Vaughan was a player who lived for the stage. His Carnegie Hall tracks and the trio of Alpine Valley songs are testament to that.

While the three discs of music are all very fine, it’s the brief fourth disc fans will appreciate most. Here Vaughan is captured on a DVD featuring five un-aired, never released TV performances from the PBS music series “Austin City Limits.”

Collections such as this have in the past relied on liner notes and photographs to bring their subjects to life. On “SRV,” the inclusion of concert performance in DVD format may be the smartest box set innovation of the year, and sets the standard for future collections.

3LW

“3LW”

½ Epic

If one cute teenage girl who can sing is good, two has to be better and three is even better. With that kind of marketing behind 3LW (Three Little Women) how can this pop infused R&B/hip-hop trio miss?

The Lil’ Women, who range in age from 14 to 17, display some solid vocal abilities on their debut disc.

While they are technically a superior ensemble that at times is remarkably reminiscent of the early Supremes, they are stylistically scattered. The trio seems artistically divided as it delves into Britney-pop, soul-lite ballads and even hip-hop.

The trio is best when they tackle straight-ahead contemporary R&B like the song “I’m Gonna Make You Miss Me.” This disc’s other standout is “I Can’t Take It,” on which the girls sing with gangsta rapper Nas.